thanks for being up with this this morning. we have a lot of news to talk about on december 10th. ? in washington, closed door meetings with the president and john boehner. in the midwest, the fiscal cliff is the latest thing on people's minds as the first blizzard of the winter brings the region to a halt, highways closed and scores of flights canceled. that story is just ahead. first, let's get to the news live at 5:30 here at "30 rock" in new york city. well, we begin with the new urgency in the fiscal cliff negotiations with now just 21 days, three weeks to reach a deal. today president obama returns to campaign mode taking the fiscal cliff message to detroit. yesterday the president and speaker boehner met privately at the white house, their first face-to-face meeting since they agreed last week to clear everyone else out of the negotiating room. so what happened? well, neither side revealed anything about the meetings, only saying that the lines of communication remain open.

but yesterday another influential republican, senator bob corker from the senate banking commission said his party should consider the president's idea of raising tax rates on the wealthy. >> there is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue before year end. we have one house, that's it. the presidency and the senate is in the democrat's hands. a lot of people are putting forth a theory and i think it has merit where you go in and give the president the 2% increase that he's talking about, the rate increase on the top 2% and all of a sudden the shift goes back to entitlements. i actually am beginning to believe that is the best route for us to take. >> but on "meet the press" house majority whip kevin mccarthy disagreed on giving way on tax increases while his counterpart in the senate, dick durbin, said the president was willing to go off the cliff if necessary. >> the president wants the rates to go up, that doesn't solve the

problem. we don't want to be back here in another year, another ten years answering the same question, but the president's asking for higher rates. he's asking for more revenue. most economists agree the best way to get that is through closing special loopholes. you know what, when you close them, it makes a fair tax process. >> i can tell you i don't want to do it, the president doesn't want to do it, but we need to solve the problem. we cannot allow the reckless position drive this economy into another recession, a recession the republicans will own. >> a white house aid says they have kept the press's schedule open as you would expect. despite these contentious fiscal cliff negotiations there's one thing democrats and republicans can agree on. as of today hillary clinton would be an unstoppable candidate if she runs for president in 2016. even former speaker newt gingrich was praising the secretary of state yesterday on "meet the press." he worries that the republican party won't stand a chance if

clinton makes another run for president. >> she's a very formidable as a person and is a very confident person. she is married to the most popular democrat in the country. they both think it would be good for her to be president. that makes it virtually impossible to stop her for the nomination i think, and i thought she was frankly going to be a nominee in '08. every republican should be focused on what we're talking about. if their competitor in '16 is going to be hillary clinton and supported by bill clinton and barack obama, trying to win that will be truly the super bowl. the republican party today is incapable of competing at that level. >> strong words. while clinton has dozens of options when she leaves the state department, "the new york times" notes she will have to choose her job carefully until she's ready to decide on the presidential race. quote, the more serious she is about 2016, the less she can do, no frank, seen it all memoir, no

clients, commissions or controversial positions that could prove problematic. also get rid of those kay men island bank accounts. no car elevators either. clinton will likely sign on to work with her husband at the clinton foundation for a while and could possibly write a book about her time as secretary of state. speaking of political contenders, there could be a bruising and very entertaining battle just around the corner in new jersey. newark mayor cory booker says he will decide in the next two weeks whether he plans or not plans to challenge governor chris christie next year. >> i am absolutely considering running for governor as well as giving other options some consideration. >> if you decide not to run for governor, is there any chance you might run for another office, say senate, for example? >> yeah, i'm actually looking at that a lot as well and trying to give back because life ultimately is not about a position it's about a purpose. my purpose that i try to focus on every single day is how can i

make a difference in the world around me and the community around me. i'm really thinking about both offices right now and which one can i better serve on the issues that i'm passionate about and the things i feel driven to contribute to. >> as a member of the media, please, please run. >> christie already filed the paperwork to run for re-election. he has record high approval numbers. it could be an uphill battle for booker as a recent poll shows that over 60% of registered new jersey voters, that's mostly a democratic state, says he deserves to be re-elected. turning to overseas news from afghanistan. one of our country's greatest, a navy s.e.a.l. has died from his wounds after helping successfully rescue an american hostage that was being held by the taliban. this all happened over the weekend during an operation to save dr. phillip joseph who was kidnapped by the taliban last week. the military raid was ordered after intelligence indicated the doctor was in imminent danger. secretary of defense leon panetta issued a statement last

night commenting the special forces that carried out the raid. he said he was deeply saddened by the soldier's death whose name has not yet been released. now to the ongoing crisis in syria. the civil war now spilling over the border into lebanon where at least 17 people were killed in recent clashes between supporters and opponents of president assad. this as syrian rebels continue to make advances continuing much of the countryside and the open road. richard engel amazingly made his way inside syria and filed this report just outside of the nation's largest city, aleppo. >> reporter: as this conflict drags on the people are suffering, but also showing a tremendous amount of resilience. this house was bombed by mistake. the people who lived here lived next to a rebel commander. now they're homeless. aside from the damage, and there is extensive damage in this part of syria just on the outskirts of the city of aleppo, there are also tremendous economic difficulties. the syrian currency is now worth about half of what it was worth

before this war started. a loaf of bread costs 20 times more than it did just a few months ago. fuel is in very short supply, and if you can find it, it is also very expensive. with you despite all of that the rebels are making advantages. they are pushing on to president bashar al assad's military bases surrounding his military bases. there's no hope here for a diplomatic solution. the rebels don't want one. they say the only solution they will accept is a military victory. that amazes me the places that richard engel gets in, the stories he brings us. russia says they're going to remain in support of president assad despite doubt that arose last week after they met privately with secretary of state hillary clinton on the issue of chemical weapons. and to the crisis and the mess in cairo. egypt's president more morsi is asking them to stay there.

more syrians are refusing to cancel a rev 49er render. morsi did cancel the rally. it did little to bring calm to the streets of cairo. the washington post wrote about the muted response from the united states through all of this saying, quote, the administration's rejoineder is that this isn't about america. egyptians and other arabs are writing their history now, and they will have to live with the consequences. moreover, the last thing secular protesters need is an american embrace. that's surely true, but it's crazy for washington to appear to take sides for those who want a liberal, tolerant egypt. somehow that's where the administration has ended up. we'll talk more about this with david ignatius coming up on

"morning joe." now to the hoax. it has two australian deejays apologizing for the first time. about time. the deejays said they were heart broken and saddened for the families of jacintha saldanha, one of the duchess of cambridge's nurses. they impersonated queen elizabeth and prince charles to try to get the nurse to give out information. three days later the nurse was found dead in an apparent suicide. the deejays said if they're responsible for any part of their death they're very sorry adding the prank calls have been around forever and no one could have predicted the results. they could have done without that last part. they're suspended and off the air. the parent condition, they held an emergency board meeting. their stock prices have fallen 5%. it's not clear yet whether they're going to be prosecuted under australia recording privacy law. finally, a little bit of controversy surrounding this year's annual christmas tree in

washington. really? this charity concert was attended by the president and his family. here's the deal. south korean rapper psy performed his gangnam style dance. his performance came just days after video had surfaced of psy using anti-inflammatory, anti-american language and leading u.s. anti-protests. that was at a concert in 2004. on friday psy issued an apology for those lyrics. they were part of the anti-iraq war movement. k despite the controversy, it aired on tnt. as always, let me know why you're awake. shoot me an e-mail. you can tweet me at bill karins or you can text the word awake followed by your response to 622639. we'll read -- that was kind of count dracula. we'll read the responses on the

show. still ahead on "way too early." this is the one regarding the status of robert griffin iii's knee. he banged it up. he went down and leaving the redskins playoff hopes in the hands of a rookie. we'll have the rest of your nfl highlights coming up. of course, the shovels, the snow blowers, they're working overtime in the midwest this morning. new england and the rest of the east coast, you're next. i'll give you a check of your weather when we return to "way too early." snoop. >> the nobel peace prize for 2009, president barack obama to come forward and receive the gold medal and the diploma.

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geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. welcome back to "way too early" on this monday morning. if you're in the midwest on the treadmill, it's brutal. you don't need me to tell you that. yesterday ten inches of snow fell in minneapolis. starting off the winter with a bang. wind chills in the negative numbers. not a pretty scene in the midwest. all the cold air heading down to dallas. let's get you out the door this morning. a lot of roads and highways are going to improve. the snow is ending overnight. you saw the snow in green bay if you're watching the football on nbc. travel delays are expected widespread today. if you're going to be in any of the major airports in the eastern seaboard, we'll have the biggest issue. right now the worst of those storms, we even have

thunderstorms this morning, louisiana all the way up through alabama and mississippi. i say it's cold in the midwest. this is by far the coldest morning we've had this winter. wind chills are negative all the way down to the northern portions of texas. dallas has a wind chill of 25. you get the picture in the middle of the country. the opposite side of this is the eastern seaboard. you don't need your jackets out ahead of the storm. temperatures could be near 70 in washington, d.c., up possibly to 68 in new york. it will be kind of rainy and wet in many areas of the country. the worst of it is over in the midwest. winter has finally arrived. well now let's turn our attention to sports. i usually like to have a very good time with my buddy mike, but unfortunately we have to start with this story that marched the nfl landscape this weekend. this was the tragedy out at dallas. the linebacker jerry brown was killed in a car accident while riding with teammate josh brent early saturday morning. he was arrested after a field sobriety test and has been charged with intoxication

manslaughter. mike, professional athletes have been told they get all the resources in the world to avoid these situations. how do you explain? >> well, the national football league has a real serious problem. apart from the concussion syndrome, it's going to cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in the future, you have a league where if you touch tom brady, you get a five-game suspension. if you batter your wife, your spouse, whatever, nothing happens. very little happens. this is just the latest in a series of extremely violent incidents that has really i think marched the image of that league and has a lot of people concerned. >> what can they do? i mean, this is stuff that takes place off the field. >> it takes place off the field. it also, the roots of it, begins before they become national football league players. it's a societal issue. it's not just a national football league issue. it's something the league has to deal with in a zero tolerance fashion even though many of these incidents do happen off

the field, zero tolerance factor. hopefully no more of these going forward and we can enjoy the fun highlights. >> we will get to them. we'll go straight to the dallas cowboy game. still grieving. they travel to cincinnati to face the bengals. brown was honored by a moment of silence before the game. highlights in the fourth quarter. this is romo at his best. dez bryant threads the needle. 27 yards scored. cowboys down two. seven minutes to play. dan bailey, the field goal attempt to end the game, it's good. the cowboys get the win on the road. an emotional day for them. they move to 7-6 on the year. they continue to put pressure on the rest of the nfc east. there it is. everyone getting hugs. >> in the nfc east we'll stay there where the redskins were looking to are a win in the ravens to keep pace. pick it up. under 2:00 left. redskins down by 8. rg3 looking for running room

takes a huge hit. >> look the his knee. >> that's the biggest story. you talk about the fiscal cliff. rg3's knee, that's the story in washington today. redskins fans holding their breath as griffin was helped off the field. backup, curt cousins. 36 seconds left. connecting with pierre garcon for the touchdown. cousins was running the two-point conversion, we're headed to overtime. headed for 28. just over 1:00 gone punting to richard crawford. he gets to the 10 yard line. sprints up the sideline. finally run down the field after a 64 yard run sets up a 34 yard field goal to try to win it. it's good! redskins come back 31-28. they move to 7-6. >> after the game of course everyone wants to know how's his knee doing? mri came back negative for a torn acl. the diagnosis of sprained right knee. >> you're a doctor too in addition to a lot of guys.

>> renaissance man. >> 245es very good. the giengts needing a win over the saints to hold onto the nfc east lead. first quarter giants down a touchdown. this is david wilson. slightly fast. the rookie from virginia tech finds a little daylight. gone. kicker, come on, harley. he tried. well, wilson had over 200 yards in kickoff returns to go along with his two rushing touchdowns. third quarter, manning, hakeem ni nicks. he's tall, he's good. three touchdown passes. giants go on to win this one in a route, 52-27. mike, take us through the standings. this is the fun division. >> nfc east, giants still one game up, 8-5 redskins behind them at 7-6. behind closed doors, president obama and speaker

boehner continue to hammer out a deal as they jockey for a position on entitlements. we'll have that straight ahead with our "morning joe" panel. when we come back here, we're going to do this, aren't we? me, you, and louis. we'll head around the water cooler. "saturday night live" giving us the reason to negotiate. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. start saving at citi.com/pricerewind.

well, enough of the real news. let's send it to louis, louis. what have you got in the cooler? >> thanks, bill. it's nice to see you doing "way too early." >> not a bad gig. >> this weekend on "saturday night live" the writers took aim at the fiscal cliff negotiations. a lot has been made about the president and speaker boehner meeting one on one behind closed doors. last night snl revealed its real reason why the president decided to speak to boehner alone. >> in order to get the support of the speaker i agreed to zero tax increases. why would i do that? i mean, i won the election. i had the leverage. why give in? well, simply put, i felt sorry for this man. earlier this week i found my way into the congressional cafeteria and what do i see? john boehner sitting by himself. all alone. not a single member of his party willing to share his company.

he didn't even have any milk to drink because, well, tell them why, john? >> they had taken my milk and thrown it in the garbage. >> they took it and threw it in the garbage. i was so heart broken to hear this i said, look, how about this, john? if you agree to a 1% rate on the top 2 americans, just 2 people, i will dissolve social security. dissolve it. so we took it to the republicans and congress and what do they do? >> invited me to a pizza party. >> and when they got there -- when you got there, sir? >> it was a burned out warehouse. >> did you go inside? >> yes. >> and was there any pizza? >> no. >> and then what happened? >> they jumped out and pelted me with eggs. >> fresh eggs? >> rotten eggs.

>> bill, i'll tell you, i feel like john boehner. mike has invited me to dinner many, many times. i show up and he's not there. all right. let's turn to reality news now. mtv has been looking for replacements of the "jersey shore." it announced in august it would be canceling the series following its upcoming fifth season. it looks like the network found what it was looking for. this is the upcoming series, "buck wild." >> [ bleep ]. >> whooo sclam. >> our motto around here is whatever happens, happens. >> i'm having fun. facebook, none of that internet stuff. my parents, if it wasn't for them, i wouldn't be here. >> who do you know loves this plain trash. >> this cat here. >> whatever happens, happens.

new show "buck wild" is being dubbed the redneck "jersey shore." it's kids in west virginia. senator mansion wrote a letter to mtv calling the show, quote, a travesty. >> or a great thing. >> the stereotypes about the people from the great state of west virginia. and that is quality reality tv programming. >> i am so game. you and i are so "duck dynasty." this is a picture of the crew. i i'm dibs on the entire front row. >> listen, the "jersey shore" is great but this looks like -- >> you're forgiven for the lame "saturday night live" clip for that because i am highly looking forward to this adventure. >> it looks like there are about six snookis in that picture. that's the res sippy. >> more snookis, the better. >> thanks, louis. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your tweets, texts and e-mails

and "morning joe," of course, just moments away.